The present invention relates to a new and distinct perennial variety of Vaccinium hybrid (Southern Highbush Blueberry), which has been given the variety denomination of ‘C97-41’. Its market class is that of a fruiting plant. ‘C97-41’ is intended for use as fresh fruit for shipping, customer pick and processing markets and as a home garden plant.
The new blueberry cultivar is a selection resulting from seedlings produced in a controlled breeding programme of Vaccinium at Gainesville, Fla., USA in 1995 from a cross of seed parent “F95-52” (unpatented) and pollen parent “E12” (unpatented). The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single plant within a population of blueberry plants in 1999, in a commercial field plantation environment at Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia. Selection criteria was a combination of very strong plant growth vigor, early to mid season of ripening, good fruit flavor, large fruit size, medium to firm fruit suited to handling, attractive dark blue fruit color and small picking scar. The selection was subsequently evaluated for a number of years at the commercial farms at Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by cutting propagation since 1997 at Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia and has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.
The new variety has been primarily compared to the variety ‘Sweetcrisp’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 20,027). In Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia the plant growth vigor of ‘C97-41’ is ‘strong’ whereas the plant growth vigor of ‘Sweetcrisp’ is ‘medium to strong’. The time of vegetative bud burst of ‘C97-41’ is ‘early to medium’ whereas the time of vegetative bud burst of ‘Sweetcrisp’ is ‘early’. The fully developed leaf length of ‘C97-41’ is ‘long’ (66-70 mm) whereas the fully developed leaf length of ‘Sweetcrisp’ is ‘medium’ (mean 54 mm). The fully developed leaf width of ‘C97-41’ is ‘broad’ (32-36 mm) whereas the fully developed leaf width of ‘Sweetcrisp’ is ‘medium’ (mean 29 mm). The time of fruit ripening of ‘C97-41’ is ‘early to medium’ whereas the time of fruit ripening of ‘Sweetcrisp’ is ‘medium to late’. The sweetness of a berry of ‘C97-41’ is classified as ‘medium’ whereas the sweetness of a berry of ‘Sweetcrisp’ is classified as ‘strong to very strong’. The acidity of a berry of ‘C97-41’ is classified as ‘weak to medium’ whereas the acidity of a berry of ‘Sweetcrisp’ is classified as ‘very weak’. This combination of fruiting attributes results in ‘C97-41’ being a more suitable variety for commercial and home garden use than ‘Sweetcrisp’.